Adventures in York, Chapter Three: The Caste That Wasn't a Castle

I have to say that the castle museum was quite fun despite the grave disappointment of there being no actual castle.

The first part of the museum was dedicated to life throughout history. For instance, I was most impressed by the collection of hoovers (vacuum cleaners). They had every kind of hoover from something made out of a wooden box (Don't ask how it worked, I've no idea.) to a very groovy 70s gig. What truly amused me was a brand spanking new Dyson. Not something I expected to see in a museum.

The whole history of British life at home was laid out before me from toilets (Including a frightening contraption of metal buckets, levers, coils and whatnot.), bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms. The history of marriage, child birth (Which I studiously avoided in abject terror. I think Jim was relieved.), and even death was laid out before us in shining glass boxes. There was even a hearse in the middle of one of the rooms. Luckily they left the horses outside.

After the more "girlie" exhibits came the "boy" ones. Swords, guns, helmets, uniforms, gas masks and so on lined the halls along with the history of various wars, particularly how they impacted York. Needless to say this portion was not my cup of tea. I'm afraid I hustled poor Jimbo straight through.

And then game the next "girlie" bit... Jane Austenesque costumes! I was completely thrilled! And after the costumes came cases full of shoes (Yes, shoes!), jewelry and fancy dishes. There was even an exhibit of food throughout the ages. Thankfully it was done in wax, so it looked delicious, but was less likely to moulder away.

I have to say that one of the most interesting bits of the museum were the areas that were set up like actual streets in the town. Rather than having your usual glass case full of chamber pots and dinnerware, it was set up to look like a store front with a display of such items in the window. Some shops, such as the toy store and the apothecary, you could actually walk into and speak with the "proprietor" dressed in appropriate costume of the day. After giving you a brief history of his shop, you could then purchase a small item from him. I was weak. I bought a pink sugar mouse and gobbled it up straight away. I always wondered what a sugar mouse would taste like. It was definitely yummy!

Naturally, I had to check out the school room complete with desks, chalkboard and maps of the world. Unfortunately while we could check out the jail, someone had locked the cells so we couldn't mess about in them. How rude!

After a mooch about the museum shops we headed outside for some ice cream. The mobile ice cream unit (Somehow that sounds like an emergency vehicle.) was out of chocolate (GASP! Horror!), so I settled for strawberry which turned out to be excellent! So we slurped on our ice cream cones as we headed back across the parking lot and headed for the Georgian Era. What is it with me and "Really Cool Georgian Stuff"?